Managing Community Mental Health Disorders

Managing Community Mental Health Disorders

Questions

Q.1. Concept of Community Mental Health

            Mental health in the community is a major public health problem affecting individuals diagnosed with mental health disorders together with their families, schoolmates, peers, and workmates, among others. Community mental health reflects the overall mental health of an entire community. Examples of mental health illness are depression, anxiety disorder, eating disorders, suicide, ADD/ADHD, Bipolar disorders, and schizophrenia. Barry (2019) observed that several factors challenge community mental health; the key ones include lack of resources such as finance, supportive employment, and housing to meet their treatment and recovery. Lack of competent mental healthcare professionals and enforcing laws is another challenge to community mental health. Lack of sufficient physical facilities such as mental health clinics and stigma associated with mental health illness are significant challenges.

Community mental health can be promoted using school-based interventions and promoting healthy lifestyles such as physical exercise and nutrition. The support from both the government and the community is vital in mental health promotion. The benefits of promotion include creating community awareness about mental health and enhancing positive mental health as well as reducing the stigma associated with mental health disorders.

2. 2. Factors associated with mental Illnesses

Mental illness is influence by multiple factors which vary according to the type of disorder and the person. The biological factors influencing mental health include genetics, exposure to toxic substances, medical conditions, and brain defects and injuries, which affects the structure and functioning of the brain (McKenzie, 2017). For instance, studies have shown that specific genes such as DISC1 gene can trigger mental health illnesses such as schizophrenia. Some disease such as cancer and HIV/aids can influence a person to develop a feeling of hopelessness and depression.

Social factors such as race/ethnicity, gender, age, marital status, employment status, social class, and sexual orientation are risk factors to certain mental illnesses. McKenzie (2017) noted that social exclusion to things like employment is known to trigger mental disorder such as depression and anxiety disorders. Political factors influence mental health through policy formulation and health care reforms, such as the affordable healthcare act. The policy guides medication, public education initiatives and funding of mental health institutions. The policy reform in health care acts is a political process for improving access to mental health care. The medicalization mental illness act has put mental health medication at per with other diseases through equal insurance coverage.

3. 3. EBP treatment for Mental Illness

Mental health disorders can be managed through psychotherapeutic or psychotropic medications to treat symptoms. These treatments involve the application of psychotherapy theories by a professional through therapeutic relationship and best practices to alleviate disturbing emotional symptoms. However, these modes of therapy must be supported by empirical evidence for improved patient outcomes. Nurses must be wary of the various empirical-based treatments for managing mental illnesses (Taylor & Hasler, 2018). There are multiple EBP interventions proven effective for managing different types of mental illnesses.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a form of psychotherapeutic treatment for many mental health illnesses, including addiction disorders. Similar to CBT is the Dialectical Behavioral Therapy applied to manage multiple diseases (Hundt et al. 2016).  Exposure therapy is another kind of EBP intervention for PTSD, anxiety and phobias. Substance abuse disorders can be treated using the motivational interviewing technique, an EBP intervention. Similarly, the substance abuse problem in adolescents can be managed using functional family therapy intervention. Assertive community treatment is an EBP is a specialized care intervention for managing severe mental health disorders. The FDA recently approved EBP drug for managing ADHD disorder: the KAPVAY as published in the RxList. The drug underwent a number of clinical tests under different conditions to assess effectiveness.

4. 4. Role of Community Mental Nurse

            Community health nurse has multiple roles to play in the promotion of positive mental health within the community. As an educator, the nurse provides knowledge and training to member of the public about health promotion intervention such as lifestyle change and good hygiene. As a researcher, nurses conduct studies based on data from the community to develop EBP intervention for managing a mental illness. Furthermore, nurses also engage in interprofessional collaboration to promote public health and well-being. As a politician, nurses can draft policies and mobilize leaders to enact health care policies. Other roles include grant writing, health care practitioners, case managers, content experts, and administrator/manager (Karanikola et al. 2018). Therefore, community nurses play a crucial role in the management community mental disorders.

References

Barry, M. M. (2019). Community Mental Health Promotion Principles and Strategies. In Implementing Mental Health Promotion (pp. 163-194). Springer, Cham.

https://www.rxlist.com/kapvay-drug.htm#side_effects

Hundt, N. E., Harik, J. M., Barrera, T. L., Cully, J. A., & Stanley, M. A. (2016). Treatment decision-making for posttraumatic stress disorder: The impact of patient and therapist characteristics. Psych.  Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 8(6), 728.

Karanikola, M., Kaikoushi, K., Doulougeri, K., Koutrouba, A., & Papathanassoglou, E. D. E. (2018). Perceptions of professional role in community mental health nurses: The interplay of power relations between nurses and mentally ill individuals. Archives of psychiatric nursing, 32(5), 677-687.

McKenzie, K. (2017). Biological and Social Causation of Serious Mental Illness. In On Human Nature (pp. 431-449). Academic Press.

Taylor, B. J., & Hasler, B. P. (2018). Chronotype and mental health: recent advances. Current psychiatry reports, 20(8), 59.